Baking

5/10/2019
Lamingtons

INGREDIENTS125g butter softened
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
2 cups desiccated coconut
ICING
3 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup boiling water
METHOD
Step 1
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Line with baking paper, leaving a 2cm overhang on all sides. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may curdle).
Step 2
Sift half the flour over the butter mixture. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside overnight.
Step 3
Make icing: Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add butter and boiling water. Stir until smooth.
Step 4
Cut cake into 15 pieces. Place coconut in a dish. Using a fork, dip 1 piece of cake in icing. Shake off excess. Toss in coconut. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray. Repeat with remaining cake, icing and coconut. Stand for 2 hours or until set. Serve.


Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact.
When we did lamingtons for our practical last term, we perform some mixing type to make the lamingtons. The method that we have been used as the creaming method, wherein we whisk the eggs, butter, milk, flour, and sugar to make the sponge for the lamingtons.
For the finished product of our lamington, the appearance of it was like a sponge, and for it's top is unbroken, and it evenly rose up perfectly.
The texture of the lamington is just right, wherein there's no excess sugar neither baking powder. The temperature was just right which does not cause of overbaked, and gives us a flat lamington. We presented our lamington with an accompaniment of cream with jam in the middle.


Carrot Cake
Ingredients

3 cups carrot, hand-grated(450 g)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon, divided(310 g)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup light brown sugar, packed (200 g)
½ cup granulated sugar(100 g)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup vegetable oil(240 mL)
1 cup raisin (150 g)
1 cup crushed pineapple, canned (225 g)

ICING
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks) room temperature(225 g)
12 oz cream cheese, room temperature (340 g)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar(240 g)
2 cups walnuts, crushed(200 g)

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Grease 3 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
• Grate the carrots on the small holes of a box grater. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, sift together 2½ cups (310 G) of flour, the cinnamon, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together.
• In a separate large bowl, beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs together with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until just combined.
• With the mixer running, gradually pour in the vegetable oil.
• With the mixer on medium-low speed, add ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients. Beat just to incorporate. Stop mixing when there is just a small amount of flour visible.
• In a small bowl, toss the raisins with the remaining tablespoon of flour.
• Add the raisin, grated carrots, and pineapple to the batter and fold to incorporate with a rubber spatula.
• Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a fork inserted in the center of a cake, comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes on a wire rack until the pans are cool to the touch. Remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely on the rack.
• Make the icing: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla with an electric hand mixer on medium-low speed. Once combined, mix on medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until light and fluffy.
• Add the powdered sugar, ½ cup (60 G) at a time, beating on medium-low speed to incorporate each addition.
• Assemble the cake: Check to see if the top of each cake is flat. If not, use a serrated knife level off the cakes.
• Place 1 cake layer on a serving platter or cake stand. Spoon ¼ of the icing on top and spread in an even layer. Add another layer of cake and spread with another ¼ of the icing. Set the last cake layer on top with the bottom up to ensure a very flat surface. Spread the rest of the icing over the top and sides.
• Gently press the walnuts into the icing around the sides of the cake.
• Chill for 30-60 minutes to let the icing set, then slice and serve.

Last practical what we made is a carrot cake. Wherein we perform the creaming method it is also called the sugar batter method that needs to beat together the fat and sugar till light creamy, and fluffy incorporating air. Then the egg but if we add it quickly, or if they are too cold, the mixture may curdle. 

Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact. The appearance of the finished product was an even shape and the middle of it was not shrunk and rose up perfectly and even the color of it the cake is just right, what we get for our finish product for carrot cake is that it is light brown it is not too dark and not too brown which means that its not overcooked. Looking at the texture of our carrot cake all the ingredients that we followed from the recipe, it is not excess with sugar, as well as the flour. We presented it and do the decoration with icing and whipped cream.


Chocolate log

The chocolate log was the one that we did on our yesterday's practical. The whisking method was the type of mixing that we had used, we whisk the egg, butter, cocoa powder, baking powder, and flour all together for our sponge. Its appearance was right after we roll the sponge and get a perfect chocolate log, we get the right amount of color the color was not too dark, it is not overcooked that means that the temperature of the oven was just enough for our sponge. Its texture was good, I can smell the cocoa powder in it, it does not excess with all the ingredients. The degree of our chocolate log was 180 and its bake, not fan bake because at first, we wanted it to have the right amount of height so we could roll it nicely and perfectly.

We can check if the cake is cooked if we insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out clean, with no streaks of batter. A few small crumbs are ok. But if the cake is cooked around the outside but not in the inside then pop it back into the oven and cover tightly in tin foil. The tin foil will trap the heat and help to cook the inside of your cake. Bake for another 10-15 mins checking after 5-7 mins to make sure it's working. After getting the cake out we then spread the cream in the middle as it stands as the accompaniment of the cake.

Fruit Syrup Cake

  

Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact. Fruit syrup cake was made with orange, butter, sugar, egg, orange juice. With these ingredients, we combined it and do the mixing method of creaming, wherein we combined all the ingredients until it forms a creamy substance since the egg is added. With its appearance, the fruit syrup cake has a perfect/fine color of brownish, the side was not burnt, the shape of it was like a muffin as it rose not too high. You can taste the syrup in it and the orange juice that was combined with milk, baking soda, and baking powder which gives an aroma of the juice, the cake was not too sweet or tasteless. After all the preparation we presented it with the syrup then for the cake to dip and stand as the sauce of the cake.

Chelsea Bun
Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact. When it comes to the bread we need to be mindful of the flour we use as in New Zealand, flour with a high gluten content is usually labeled 'high-grade flour', but wheat flour was the main flour used for bread-making because it contains more gluten than other flours. 

Key points for the flour

• The ingredients should be within its best- before date
• Flour should be dry, not damp
• Flour should be free from pests, such as moths and weevils. If the bag or container shows signs of pests, throw them out. 
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Key points for the yeast

It should be warmth (the ideal temperature is between 25 and 25c) and needs to be moisture. We need to be mindful of the mixture for the yeast is too hot the yeast will die so not ferment, and if we add a small amount of sugar to the dough it will increase yeast activity.

We did the mixing/kneading the dough, wherein we gather it into a ball with our hands, stretch it away from us by pushing and flattening it with the heel of the hand on a firm work surface. Roll or fold it back into a ball. Continue to turn, fold and push the dough repeatedly. For the texture, we might encounter different things that can go wrong with our bread like its dense is not enough yeast, for the coarse, it's too much water, and if it is crumbled or dry it means that is been baked for too long. For us to have better bread we need to ensure that it doesn't look pale which causes the temperature is low, having over proved, and not having enough water which is too thick. Ensuring the bread is cooked when we take the loaf out of the oven and turn it upside down, taking it out of the pan if you're making a sandwich loaf. Give the bottom of the loaf a firm thump! with your thumb, like striking a drum. The bread will sound hollow when it's done. With its appearance, we get the color of the bun as a light brown, it's not burned and perfectly cooked on the inside. The chocolate syrup could be its accompaniment on top of the bun or inside the bun. 

Gingerbread                                                                     Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact. As we did the gingerbread yesterday we combined the ingredients which are the butter, water, flour, and brown sugar to made the bread. First, we did is to combine the brown sugar, butter, and water in a small pot until the butter is melted to make a syrup to combine it with the flour. As we did this combination for our bread we did the method of creaming to have a creamy substance. Light dark is the color of the gingerbread loaf after it's cooked, knowing that the loaf is cooked in the inside when checking it with a toothpick and if there is no substance coming from the loaf then the loaf is cooked from the. presenting it with dust with icing sugar to serve 

Pastry
Spinach & Ricotta rolls

Preparing the ingredients with the right measurements of each ingredient such as cups, spoons, grams, and liters. Making sure that we have the correct quantity of each ingredient for our selected recipe. Checking the expiry (best before/use by)dates, check that the package is intact. 
Spinach pie and ricotta rolls were the ones we did last Wednesday. It has a combination of another pastry which is hand made pies. The pastry is different from bread, by having a higher fat content which contributes to a flaky or crumbly texture. Having a good pastry is light, airy, and fatty, but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. As for our pastry, its texture is bit and rough with some blisters that suggest flakiness.  And within the color, it is golden brown on the edges. With its fillings, they are firm, smooth, and adequately cooked. We serve the ricotta rolls with a tomato sauce to be its sauce. Our ricotta rolls look like a sausage as for the finished product.